I think this book is probably the "to this point" best culmination of my thinking and concerns about the church. The understanding of Ephesians 4 as the primer for ecclesiology and the corrective for the infertile western church cuts to the quick. Now, to put into practice the prophetic and apostolic messages in its pages! 

Kingdom

The Lord's Prayer - the prayer that our Lord taught us to pray! Immediately following the invitation to approach Almighty God with the name "Father" and to joyfully assume new covenant responsibility to keep his name holy Jesus goes to what we might perhaps note as the centre of the prayer: Your kingdom come. This simple phrase, this simple longing is so much the heart of our faith. John the Baptist, Jesus himself in many settings reported in the Gospels says that the kingdom has come near. What is the kingdom? Simply put isn't it God's future arriving in our present? Question is - is it still near? Or was the offer of the kingdom taken off the table when Jesus was rejected? What do you think?

Lorica of Saint Patrick (ca. 377)

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In preachings of the apostles,
In faiths of confessors,
In innocence of virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me;
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s hosts to save me
From snares of the devil,
From temptations of vices,
From every one who desires me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a mulitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil,
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.
Christ shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

sponsored children

One of the most wonderful experiences I had in India and Pakistan was to meet the young people and children. They are among the most beautiful and hopeful children of the world. And several were presently or formerly sponsored children. Their life situations were and are desperate. Yet they are filled with hope. Whether they were the children welcomed by a Brahman convert who opens his home to hundreds of "untouchable" children and gives them full access to his whole house, knowing that none of them would take a single thing from him, or the sponsored children of the past who were our tour guides through the "homes" of currently sponsored children who now, with university degrees, greeted us with the poise and confidence of the world's best future generation, we were stunned by the hope and decorum of the future of these great countries. The pictures here include all of these. We visited some of the rescued 12, 13 year old human trafficking victims (no pictures of them for their own safety) who are regaining their childhood in loving homes with stuffed animals to cuddle at night. These, too, were full of hope and the resilience of God's Kingdom arriving in their present.

The Ganga (Ganges)

The Ganga (Ganges River) is considered the mother of India by Hindus in whose waters they believe their sins can be forgiven. There is a striking comparison between this and the water of baptism which is symbolic to the Christian of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ by which our sins are forgiven. Our voyage on the Ganges was a fascinating journey on board an overcrowded ferry which was grounded on a sandbank upon which we perched until the tide rose and we could proceed to port. That grounding was a pertinent pause to ponder the truths of religion and faith in our world and day.

Lepers and Learners

In Srikakulam, India a leper colony has become the centre of joy and training for its neighbourhood and beyond. Our host introduced to lepers who were literally leaping with joy and praise to God. Far from being shunned by their neighbours they host education and religious activities for their city. Young women who are destined to the same poverty in which they've been raised are trained to become skilled seamstresses and they are supplied with sewing machines to begin their small businesses. We had the privilege of participating in their "graduation" ceremony! The leader of this wonderful ministry, Philip (the same brother who leads the Sora outreach,) will visit Ontario in May.

Brickyard Church

On the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan the fields are dotted with smokestacks which mark the brickyards. The workers in these yards are indentured labourers, essentially slaves, whole families of them. The brickyard owners pay them very little so that they have to borrow from these taskmasters and have no hope of repaying their debts. (Remember Egypt and the exodus?) The burden of debt is so great and pay levels are so low that even the little children and old people must work in the baking sun. No time for school, no health care, none of the many provisions that we so take for granted. These are almost all Christian people and they have formed churches in the brickyards. Again the very idea that someone would come from far away to express concern for them brought them great joy!

India and Pakistan February 2012 -the Sora Conference

I travelled over the past few weeks with Phil Dempster of Partners International to various parts of India and Pakistan. We logged more than 90 hours on planes, buses, boats and trucks. Our travels were to meet with various South Asian ministry leaders to learn about their work, meet their people and encourage them in the Word and prayer. As is always the case the blessing returned to us multiplied as we were richly encouraged to see God's kingdom arriving in India and Pakistan, God's future indeed arriving in their present! From Chennai we flew to Vishakhapatnam and travelled to the mountains to a temporary camp built by Sora Christians for an annual Bible conference. The Sora people are indigenous in the mountain regions and our host leads a ministry of 250 missionaries who plant churches in these mountains. 15,000 of these people come down to the high valley for discipleship in a setting pretty much like the feast of tabernacles. They build a tabernacle out of bamboo and rice grass and live in small bamboo and grass huts for a week. It was a tremendous thrill to preach to them, to see many of them decide to follow Christ (unbelievers brought by their neighbours from their mountain villages) and then to witness 330 baptisms in a pond on Sunday morning!